How to cancel your disability insurance policy

Maybe you’ve decided you no longer need disability insurance, or maybe you never wanted it in the first place. Maybe you’ve looked at your budget and decided disability insurance is the piece that doesn’t fit, or maybe a windfall has ensured that your income is no longer required.

Before you cancel your independent disability insurance, there are some things to consider.

Why you might want to cancel your disability insurance

There are several reasons why you might consider canceling your disability insurance policies. Some are better reasons to cancel than others, but here are the most common:

A new job provides disability insurance

You can no longer afford the premiums

You no longer rely on your income (due to a windfall or inheritance, for example)

You are close to retirement age and can replace any possible lost income with savings

Things to consider before you cancel your disability insurance

Canceling your disability insurance coverage is not a small choice, and not just because signing up for one can take a long time and involve a medical exam. If you do decide that you want coverage again in the future, the process will take a long time, yes, but also, that new medical exam combined with your new rates, will determine your new rates.

If you want to cancel because a new job provides disability insurance, consider this:

When leave your current job, you’ll lose that coverage too and have to reapply.

If your employer pays your premiums, the benefit will be taxed, which could result in a significantly large gap in income.

Employer-provided disability coverage may not take into account bonus or commission income, again leaving you with an income gap.

If you want to cancel because you can no longer afford the premiums, consider this:

Disability insurance is an important safeguard, and other cuts to your budget may be more prudent — if you become disabled and can’t work and bring in money, you won’t be able to afford anything

You won’t be able to simply resume your coverage when your circumstances change — you’ll have to apply for a new policy, and likely at a much higher rate (since you’ll be older).

If you want to cancel because a windfall means you’re no longer reliant on your income, consider this:

Will the money truly last the rest of your working life? If you end up needing to work again or once again becoming reliant on income, you may need disability coverage again, and re-applying later could mean much higher premiums.

If you want to cancel because you are close to retirement age and can replace any possible lost income with savings, consider this:

This is actually a good reason to cancel — most policies will only pay out benefits up until age 65, so if you’re getting close and have enough in savings to offset early retirement, it may make more sense to save or invest your remaining premium money and supplement with other savings. The question to ask: if you cancel and something happened the next day, could you truly pay for everything with savings?

Takeaway

Disability insurance is meant to replace your income when you become disabled.

How to cancel your disability insurance

Canceling your disability insurance is easy: you simply stop paying your premiums. If you pay premiums annually and you want to cancel after you’ve paid the year’s premium, contact your insurer to cancel — you should be able to get a prorated refund.

And that’s it — if you stop paying your premiums, after a grace period set by your insurance company (usually 31 days), your policy will be terminated. You can no longer make a claim against it, and you will have forfeited all paid premiums, but you will have canceled your disability insurance.

If you change your mind, you’ll likely have to apply for a new policy, but it’s worth contacting your insurance company to ask about reinstatement: some companies may reinstate the policy if you pay back all past due premiums.

Can your insurance company cancel your disability insurance?

Some people are also worried about whether their policy could be canceled by the insurer. Most policies are guaranteed renewable, which means your insurance company cannot cancel your policy as long as you pay the premium. As long as you are honest with your insurance company during the application process and continue to pay your premiums, you needn’t be worried about your benefits being canceled.

If you’ve filed a claim and are receiving benefits, there are some things that can trigger a review and cancellation of benefits, however:

If your insurer finds out you lied on your application

If your insurer finds out you’ve made a false claim

If your insurer finds out you’re continuing to receive benefits when you’re no longer disabled

If you fail to apply for Social Security Disability Benefit to offset your private disability benefit

If you fail to receive regular medical treatment

And it’s also important to note that, even if you follow all the rules, your benefits don’t last forever. In fact, your insurance contract will stipulate when your benefits expire. For some policies, it’s when you reach age 65 (at which point you can start collecting Social Security). Other policies have set benefit periods — 2, 5, or 10 years — that you choose when you sign up for the policy.

Consult your policy or talk to your insurance company to find out what requirements you must meet to keep your disability insurance policy active.

Policygenius’ editorial content is not written by an insurance agent. It’s intended for informational purposes and should not be considered legal or financial advice. Consult a professional to learn what financial products are right for you.

Yes, we have to include some legalese down here. Read it larger on our legal page. Policygenius Inc. (“Policygenius”) is a licensed independent insurance broker. Policygenius does not underwrite any insurance policy described on this website. The information provided on this site has been developed by Policygenius for general informational and educational purposes. We do our best efforts to ensure that this information is up-to-date and accurate. Any insurance policy premium quotes or ranges displayed are non-binding. The final insurance policy premium for any policy is determined by the underwriting insurance company following application. Savings are estimated by comparing the highest and lowest price for a shopper in a given health class. For example: for a 30-year old non-smoker male in South Carolina with excellent health and a preferred plus health class, comparing quotes for a $500,000, 20-year term life policy, the price difference between the lowest and highest quotes is 60%. For that same shopper in New York, the price difference is 40%. Rates are subject to change and are valid as of 2/17/17.